Kristina Raveen
"The battle has been glorious, but I have fought long and I have fought hard, and I am tired." Kristina Raveen was a Hallengardian noble. Born Kristina Marcussen, she was born into a long line of great Hallengardian warriors, descended directly from the original inhabitants of the Hales. Carrying a great sense of pride and honor with her throughout her life, her unbreakable bond to duty ultimately became her downfall. After her brothers died in The War of Weak Kings, she vowed to not rest until Vince was dead. After running with the Steelguard, she got a job in Hallengard and married Collin Raven, having two children. She was killed by The Red Brotherhood after being lured into a trap by an impersonator of a Hallengardian archer. Kristina was buried outside Hallengard by a tree, with her grave facing the east. A controversial figure in Hallengardian politics, she left behind little except an incentive to fight the Brotherhood, a husband and two children. The Knight Early Life Kristina was born in 28 NA in the mountains to a tanner and his wife during the spring thaw. When Kristina was fourteen, in 42 NA, her father succumbed to a respiratory illness. Her mother, propelled into the workforce to keep her family afloat, shouldered the responsibility of managing her late husband's trade of selling valuable hide and leather to the inhabitants of Hallengard, utilizing the children to support their finances. With her mother not around much, and in the disadvantageous position as the middle child, Kristina had to fend for herself against her four much stronger, much larger older brothers, while defending her two younger sisters. Kristina was a respectful, stoic, but kind and sincere child growing up; she never complained or whined, as she was fully aware of the difficult situation her family was in, and always tried to cheer up her siblings. As a little girl, she often helped her brothers with smaller tasks, but as she grew older, stronger, and wiser, she took on maintaining the house and cooking for her siblings. There was still plenty of discord when her mother was not present, however, as her brothers were very competitive and prone to fighting, while her younger sisters were often too frightened of their brothers to do anything about it. The Calm Before the Storm As the children aged and matured, tensions eased between them. They now functioned as a team rather than individuals with competing interests. Kristina and her siblings spent more time together feeding livestock, hunting wild animals for food and skins, and keeping the house in good condition. This time spent together forged an inseparable bond between the children. Kristina's mother was now free of worry as the children were doing well on their own, and she was now able to take total control of the family business. Her teenage years were quite uneventful, aside from the changes that she experienced associated with this time period. She sometimes ventured down into Hallengard to take charge of the business in case her mother was ill or away. When Kristina was seventeen, in 45 NA at the break of the The Second Hallengardian Civil War, her four brothers abruptly left home to join the Old Brotherhood. With her brothers off fighting, and obviously risking their lives, Kristina worried constantly and fell deep into anxiety. For the sake of her family, Kristina remained strong and showed no sign of worry or weakness. She continued her duties at home, taking on the heavier workload during the absence of her brothers. When it Hit the Fan At eighteen, in 46 NA, a courier rode onto the family's property, stating that three of the four brothers had been slain in battle and one had escaped with his life, but had gone missing during the chaos after the battle. This news stunned Kristina and invoked a rage within her in which her family had never seen; Kristina, to them, was a kind and gentle young woman. In her anger, Kristina left home for Hallengard, swearing to the Great Father that she would not rest until whoever was responsible for the death of her brothers had been slain. Of course, due to her isolated childhood, Kristina did not actually know who this individual was, but eventually blamed the act on Vince Simmons and his associates, assuming that it was him that had caused this to happen because he was the king. After a period of praying and seeking guidance from the Great Father in the solitude of the mountains, she returned to her mother and sisters six months after her departure. When Kristina was twenty years old, in 48 NA, she decided to pay a visit down to Hallengard to check up on her mother only to find that Vince and his supporters had suddenly annexed Hallengard. Again enraged, and fearing for her life, she fled into unfamiliar territory, following the signs until she reached Aedwin, being let in by a constable. After a brief argument in which the guard considered arresting her for trespassing, she made her way to the castle for an audience with Siegnoir Rosengram, the Warden of Aedwin. She mentioned that she was a tanner, and when asked if she would accept this job, Kristina summarized her promise regarding her brothers to him, and asked for a position in which she could serve so that Vince could be defeated and so that the debt Kristina supposedly owed to her brothers could be repaid. She had very low expectations; it was an audacious, perhaps rude move to demand a position under him and expected a ceremonial or otherwise useless role. It shocked Kristina when Siegnoir offered her a position in the The Steelguard, as she had been taught that women do not fight. Nevertheless, Kristina shrugged off this notion and accepted entry into the Steelguard. Horny Men, the Machinations of Luck, and Satanists "I'm no stupid woman, Franzo Departe, I know what you are doing. I am not interested." Promptly after joining the Steelguard, one of the knights, Franzo Departe, began to court her. Kristina, her anger and recklessness revitalized by Vince's annexation of Hallengard, very bluntly and tactlessly told him that she was absolutely not interested. Kristina happened to say this in the exact wrong way, because after this, Franzo fled the city. Shortly after this, Kristina was alerted by an anonymous source that Franzo was plotting to assassinate her, working in conjunction with Peter Kyngeston. At the same time, a very shy and cowardly boy/young man (it was never clear) who obscured his supposedly scarred and burned face appeared in Aedwin. Kristina, sympathetic, became somewhat close to him, though over time Charlie began to spread rumors about their relationship. Later, the same anonymous source informed Kristina that Charlie was Franzo and he was purposefully spreading rumors to discredit her. Armed with an opportunity to confront Franzo, and with the information about his identity provided by the anonymous source, Kristina enlisted the help of Alexander Hans Lowenthal and struck. Kristina publicly confronted Franzo/Charlie and demanded him to remove his hood that covered his face. When he did not comply, she and the other knights downed and jailed him, though neglected to confiscate his items. When Alexander and Kristina left to grab a blue key from the royal chambers after some brief interrogation, they returned to a fully armed and armored Franzo, prepared to fight. Of course, due to the numerical advantage held by Alexander and Kristina, they defeated him in battle. Kristina promptly beheaded him and tossed his body into the ocean. This incident began a series of arguments between Alexander and Kristina that eventually destroyed the friendship they had created during their time in the Steelguard. "I killed him. I cleaved his head right off." The Steelguard, along with the Hallengardians, sought to restore Olivia Herrenhold to the throne as well as capture Vince Simmons and his associates, and marched to the north. They found Joseph Argon sitting on the throne in an empty castle. Olivia was returned to the throne and the Steelguard, somewhat disheartened by the absence of Vince's gang, went back to Aedwin. They happened to encounter two individuals, two particular individuals in which Kristina thought were very familiar. She then recognized one of them as Dezekiel Notaus, one of the men who she saw with Vince after Hallengard's annexation. She voiced her concern then, with the help of her comrades, downed Dezekiel and delivered him to Olivia. When she returned to Aedwin, Kristina discovered her oath fulfilled, being informed that Vince had been executed. Shortly thereafter, she was knighted by Siegnoir for her services. The Hunter An Obsession with Pride After Kristina gave up her position as a knight under the Steelguard, due to her pride and honor being wounded after falling to a commoner, she returned to the wilderness around Hallengard. She lived off of the wild animals that roam the north, selling their meat and fur to cold passerby as she did in her youth. Kristina still made occasional visits to Aedwin to see her old friends, despite most of her former comrades disliking her for her cowardice and lack of resolve. Seraph, somehow, miraculously convinced her that being an absolutely, totally, and utterly garbage warrior that stays dedicated is arguably better than being a skilled warrior that gives up. As she considered this, military service re-entered her conscience, already eager to defend a righteous state of peace as well as honor her brothers' memory. Kristina finally got over herself and stopped moping about how she failed and how her honor had been insulted; she simply carried on with her pursuits of the blade. It was around this time she became romantically involved with Siegnoir. "Dame Kristina was simply polishing my greatsword." "Sounds awfully suggestive when you say it like that." As Kristina had this fairly obvious revelation that she was blind to because of her own arrogance, Siegnoir voiced his concerns about the mysterious character in his court, Peter Kyngeston. Kristina then informed him of the various plots against him that she had been told about by the anonymous source (Jean Arrow) and that she retained this information on account of that Siegnoir supposedly trusted Peter. Before long, the people of Aedwin stood in the throne room, drawing upon Peter's history of violence against the people of The Hales as well as his religion's fixation on murder, betrayal, and malevolent demons. Additionally, Kristina and Jean referenced the assassination plot against her and later Siegnoir as well as the brainwashing conducted on Franzo Departe. Kristina was among the few who wanted to see Peter hang for his alleged crimes, but Siegnoir opted to confiscate his weapons and exile him from Aedwin. Kristina, among others, protested this, arguing that he would amass followers and strike again. Not heeding such warnings, Siegnoir exiled Peter, leaving his future uncertain. The Machinations of Luck; Part Two Upon exiting Aedwin to visit Hallengard, Kristina was followed by two mysterious men. In an attempt to evade them, she led them down a route that looped back around to Aedwin, losing them only to foolishly go back the way she came, encountering them only minutes after she lost them. After some brief conversation, Kristina was introduced to the now rogue Jean Arrow, who informed her that Vince Simmons was alive and was planning to overthrow the Lauchette with a man named Rhatufiki, designating two other men watching them from afar as the named pair. Armed with this news, she returned to Aedwin, informing the guard of their status and plans. The guard, already aware of their not being dead, but not aware of their plans to rebel, simply shrugged off the tip, saying that it would never gain traction. Regardless, with Vince being alive and therefore Kristina's vow not fulfilled, she rejoined the ranks of Aedwin, though rather as an unofficial, lowly warrior, and not of the Steelguard. Promptly after this, two men entered the throne room in all black masks, one of which Kristina recognized as Rhatufiki. She alerted the guard, having them imprisoned in the dungeon, with Rhatufiki actually being Dezekiel Notaus. Feeling confident, she went off into Hallengard for some time only to return to an empty dungeon with no Vince or Dezekiel in sight, them reportedly have been freed by some sympathizers. Angered that they slipped out of her grasp once again, she went back up to Hallengard, claimed the abandoned viking camp. On her way there, Kristina was alerted that Nikolas Simmons had summoned her to Hallengard for the purpose of forming a search party, presumably for his son. Kristina, though initially suspicious that Nikolas specifically called for her, did not want to risk rejecting a summons from a man of high authority, and so Kristina went up into the city. She was escorted to the royal chambers where he was sleeping only for him to be missing from the chamber. When Kristina was then brought downstairs, lo and behold the two men who escorted her there stabbing her, leaving her to bleed out on the floor. Fortunately for Kristina, she escaped the tower and fled Hallengard, returning to Aedwin to recover. Reflection and New Opportunities Kristina's brutal and constant pursuit of Vince Simmons that intertwined her with many of the people that intended to kill her for one reason or another had left her jaded and tired, covered with scars. Examining her life so far, Kristina noticed how her own anger and pride intertwined her with danger and battle, refusing to let herself stray away from the warpath she had led herself down. Kristina reluctantly set honor to the side, opting to operate by her own code of morals and ethics that she personally thought was righteous and good. During one of her break periods where she stayed at Aedwin, Kristina was approached by the Sir Marshall Jake Roberts of the Calandir Band, asking her to join his group dedicated to protecting and serving the Hales. Unimpressed by the cliche cause that always seemed to cause a group to collapse in on itself, she wanted something to do, to fight for. Kristina begrudgingly joined the group, stating that she would leave if the group turned to what she viewed as evil. The Marshal Theology and Grief Kristina vanished from the Calandir Band and ventured north to study Hedatist lore in a distant monastery, attempting to find texts regarding Holmgeir, the apocalypse, creation, and other important religious events or figures. Having returned to Aedwin to visit and speak to an associate about the texts, she found that not only her associate had left, but so had the rest of the Steelguard and Siegnoir had left. Overrun with sorrow that he had left without her being able to say goodbye, or possibly even go with him, she simply returned north to the monastery to continue studying the Hedatist texts. Around the same time she became involved with the topic of the Gate along with other people. An Issue of Loyalty Kristina spent a period reading over religious works at the monastery, eventually deciding to seek an actual job in Hallengard. Given a role as a lieutenant by King Gareth Glover in the Hallengardian army, Kristina now worked with the people her brothers died to overthrow. Despite this, Kristina had faith in the new government, believing that it was not a banner but an ideal that defined a nation. She believed things could be better and had faith in King Gareth. This small spark of faith was soon extinguished. Promptly after her joining the army, Gareth suddenly promoted Kristina to the role of advisor. Shocked by this, she wanted to utilize her newfound power to benefit Hallengard. She reformed the army to be more organized, revoking mercenary contracts and integrating royal guards into the army. Sir Graham was made a general, and swiftly chose a master-at-arms to lead the lieutenants. Kristina had other ideas in mind to not only make the government more efficient, but also less powerful, in the sense that she planned to implement a series of reforms and laws that balanced the power of the nobility, the military, and the clergy so that the government did not become oppressive. Her idea that governments exist to enforce order and promote the goodwill of the people is the driving factor behind her ideology. However, she did not want to exert too much power too quickly, per her ideals. After reforming the military, she sat back and worked with the court on topics of foreign policy. Kristina later learned that the purpose of her promotion to an advisory role was to give King Gareth an excuse to spend more time with her, as he was attracted to her. One of Kristina's friends in the army informed her that he intended to produce an heir with her. Kristina, not impressed by this, simply decided to be extremely vague in her words in an effort to trick Gareth into thinking she was interested, but not indicating by her language she was not interested as a means to maintain her ability to improve Hallengard. At this time, Kristina also became romantically involved with Sir Graham. He was killed shortly after the beginning of relations between them. The Tendency of Hallengardian Monarchs to Die Gareth Glover happened to die. He was assassinated by the Sir Marshal Jake Roberts, her former superior. After delivering the assassin to Aedwin, Kristina and the rest of the court went back to settle the issue of succession. With Sion being the obvious choice for king, she was elevated to the role of Marshal-Advisor. This role caused her to become extremely stressed as she attempted to juggle maintaining Hallengard's manpower, drilling the soldiers, guarding the city, dealing with deserters, and securing a food source without much assistance, as Sion was busy with matters of foreign policy. He Felt the Wind, He Felt the Cold, He Felt the Awful Drop During a trip to Aedwin, two men approached Kristina and her men asking to recruit, the men being a fellow named Duncan and the Caped Crusader, the latter of which Kristina was good friends with while working around the topic of the Gate. After arming them, Kristina asked the Crusader to swap out a helmet to follow the uniform, to which he declined, and then declined to go and acquire a spear and bow. After Kristina attempted to talk him into fulfilling his obligations as a soldier, she eventually gave up out of anger and commanded him to confiscate his items. The Crusader, unfazed, told Kristina to arrest him. She stated that, while she did not want to arrest him and throw him into a cell, but simultaneously did not want to keep him around in Hallengard. In a bout of rage, Kristina threatened the Crusader with a cliffing, to which the Crusader reciprocated by almost daring her to do it. Under this rage, she downed the Crusader and walked to the cliff outside the monastery, with her men watching. Kristina hesitated to throw her friend off the cliff, for obvious reasons. She thought she could just set him down outside the city gates and close them to keep him out like intended, but a part of her said that if she let him live, she'd seem like a coward to her men. Simultaneously, if Kristina let the Crusader die, she'd look like a tyrant in front of her men. And so Kristina threw him over, determining that violence was a preferable alternative to cowardice. She commanded her disappointment men to leave her at the monastery, falling into a brief episode of sadness where she mourned the Crusader's death with her war horn, the relic that characterized him, in her eyes. Kristina remembered why she fought so hard to get rid of Vince; because of his regime of fear, how he turned to violence almost instantly. And she examined her actions and realized she had become the thing she had sworn to destroy. Collin Raveen, having accidentally encountered Kristina during her bout of sadness, talked to her and told her to go speak to her men. Kristina, still deeply shaken by the implications of throwing the Crusader over the cliff had, went and spoke to her men, realizing that the Crusader had miraculously survived, later seeing that he was reduced to a single peg leg. This further disturbed Kristina, wondering how she could say that she was a good person when she inflicted this level of suffering on her fellow man. Kristina set aside her moral crisis to bolster the food supply and the numbers of Hallengard. She took further steps to ensure that her soldiers were prepared to mount a total defense of the kingdom in the face of a Lauch invasion she suspected would be arriving soon. Getting Tried for Treason with the Boys Following the failed Lauch invasion of Aedwin, wherein Vince Simmons was killed without an heir, Sion marshaled his men and marched down to ensure anarchy as a result of succession did not occur. Finding Trevor del Rossi was already king, Sion, before the entirety of the Aedwinian court, stepped forward and proclaimed a united Hales empire, under one banner. Kristina objected heavily, along with others, and was later tried back at Hallengard for treason since she objected to a royal decree, securing her position in Hallengard and bringing up important points about the flaws of a united Hales empire, to which Sion said he would make amends to at a meeting with Trevor. Sion returned stating that the two kingdoms would remain separate, much to the joy of Kristina. About this time, Kristina became romantically involved with Collin Raveen. The Equalizer "Death has stalked me throughout my life like a wolf, for he is never too far behind and always strikes when I least expect it." In 50 NA, Kristina's mother took ill and so Kristina took Collin to her childhood home so that he could meet her mother in the case that she succumbed to the illness. Already old and weak, Amelia Marcussen fell to the illness but not before getting to know Collin. Regardless, Kristina's mother passed away with her daughters and their significant others at her side. Left without parents and only two siblings left out of the six she once had, the death of her mother truly broke Kristina (or at least shattered any remaining trace of stability). Though still close with her sisters and their husbands, Kristina felt completely alone. The grief she experienced humbled her greatly and damaged her personality. The Fallen Babies and Brigands In 51 NA, Kristina and Collin got married. Shortly after, she resigned from her position as Marshal and ceded it to Leonard Wallace. Shortly after, she became pregnant and spent most of her time wandering about the kingdom, speaking to people and offering her wisdom. After the birth of her son Matthew Alexander Raveen in 52 NA and Amelia Rosetta Raveen shortly thereafter, Kristina began seeking out a job once more. Citing an obligation by honor and lineage, she asked, or more demanded, a role as a soldier once again from Sion. However, Collin managed to negotiate for a diplomatic position against Kristina's wishes. As it turns out, there was a small group of anti-Aedwin rebels culminating in the wilderness and Sion needed someone to go to speak to them to work out what they wanted. She resented the fact that Collin had more or less asked for it rather than her working for it, since Kristina believed that Sion had already given the two so much already. Regardless, she accepted the position. Soon after, The Red Brotherhood assassinated Trevor Del Rossi. Kristina was rather idle during this time, though she spent most of her time pursuing information about the Brotherhood, in particular a copy of one of their books, which she believed would be key to identifying and catching Brotherhood members. Frederick O'Brien, an Acolyte of the Brotherhood, had been berating her with letters for months, and so she utilized the information within to find members of the Brotherhood. This made her a target, for if she lived, the Brotherhood would falter. Valhalla Kristina was alerted by a good friend of hers, Oswald, that he had located a Brotherhood camp. Deciding to scout out the area before alerting the whole army, she was subsequently ambushed, wounded, robbed, and left for dead by members of the Brotherhood. It turns out that Oswald was being impersonated by his twin brother, and Kristina crawled to the tree where she had spent much time praying and also the same place where Collin proposed to her and where she made her oath. Collin managed to find Kristina before she died, and they had their final conversation, then inevitably bleeding out from her injuries. Kristina's funeral procession was formidable, consisting of friends and strangers alike. She was buried at the tree, with her grave facing the east so that she may always view the sunrise. Kristina was also buried in ornate, lavish armor, along with her spear and the sacred horn. She was then draped in Collin's cape. Her epitaph read; "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." It will likely be the last the Hales will see of the Marcussen family for a long time. Personality Kristina was an extremely sarcastic woman with a quick wit and a sharp tongue. She blatantly disrespected the authority of the crown and often found herself at odds with the king because of her unorthodox beliefs. However, despite her feisty demeanor which culminated in a universal hatred for her except for her close friends, Kristina wanted to be an altruistic, kind, and peaceful person, devoid of violence like in her youth, but she was prevented from doing so due to her violent past haunting her. Kristina, despite Sion's fierce dislike of her and almost constant pursuit of getting rid of her, died in defense of the kingdom, redeeming herself and securing herself a seat in the halls of Valhalla with the Great Father. Trivia * Kristina used a zweihänder and a spear in combat. ** On the ''ricasso ''of the massive blade was etched "VI KNELER ALDRI" but the blade was stolen when she was killed. ** Her spear was named Gungnir, after the Great Father's spear, but is otherwise not decorated. * Kristina inherited many things from her parents, but she was most fond of an engraved iron brooch from her father and a pendant from her mother, the latter being a small circular disc with runes inscribed in circles on the interior. She wears these two items almost constantly. ** The runes on the pendant translate to a Hedatist prayer. *** She gave the pendant to Collin before she died at the tree. ** Kristina does not have anything from her brothers because they left with most of their belongings. * Kristina had virtually no relationship with her extended family due to them being "disagreeable people." * Each item Kristina was buried with symbolized something, and even where she was buried had meaning. ** The tree was of great meaning to her because Collin proposed to her there, Kristina made her oath there, and Kristina spent a lot of time praying there. ** Kristina was buried facing east so that she may watch the rising sun for eternity, which is essentially a way of saying she could watch her friends and family prosper forever, for even the longest nights end. ** Kristina was buried in ornate armor, reflecting upon her way of life and warrior heritage. ** Kristina was buried with the sacred horn, representing the relationship with her friends as well as her dedication to Hedatism. ** Kristina was buried with her spear, representing her undying dedication to protecting others and dispensing justice. ** Kristina's body was covered with Collin's cape, representing her relationship with him along with her children and the rest of her family. Category:Hallengardians